Abbas releases video to back up assassination claims

Euronews

Hamas has denied that a plot existed to kill the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The denial comes after Abbas accused the group of planning to assassinate him. Abbas released video footage which he says proves Hamas supporters planned to kill him. The pictures allegedly show Hamas supporters planting a 250-kilogram bomb to be detonated as the President’s convoy passed on a visit to Gaza last month. He subsequently cancelled the visit.

Meanwhile Abbas is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. It will be the first meeting between the two since Hamas took charge of Gaza, ousting Abbas’s Fatah-faction in fighting last week.

Abbas will also hold talks with Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Jordon’s King Abdullah. Meanwhile, in a strongly-worded speech, the Palestinian President said there will be no talks with Hamas. He added: “No dialogue with those killers, those coup plotters.”